The US West Coast - Majestic, Awe-Inspiring and Exciting.
Martin Malden here - thanks for stopping by!
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Arizona and the Grand Canyon
My first experience of the Western United States was a 3 week business trip to Phoenix, Arizona.
I traveled from the UK on a Saturday and, because of the time difference, I woke up very early on the Sunday morning - like about 4:00 am.
So rather than lie there waiting for it to get light I decided to drive up to the Grand Canyon - about a 5 or 6 hour drive.
I left at around 5:00 am with the temperature at around 100 deg F, or a little over, and drove North.
By the time I got to Flagstaff the temperature had dropped to below freezing and there was ice on the roads. And by the time I got to the Southern edge of the Grand Canyon the temperature had warmed up again and was reasonably comfortable at around 70 deg F.
For me it was amazing to experience such different conditions within the space of a 6 hour drive.
When I arrived at the Grand Canyon I found a small company offering sight seeing flights. They were still allowed to fly down into the Grand Canyon itself in those days (in fixed wing aircraft), but this was later stopped after an accident.
The experience was incredible! We took off and flew about 500 feet above ground level and crossed the lip of the Grand Canyon at a point where it was about a mile deep.
Because of the air currents we just kind of dropped into this huge Canyon - it was the biggest adrenaline rush I'd had for ages!
We flew around for about half an hour or so taking in the most incredible sights, looking at the layers of rock shaped by centuries of wind erosion, and down at the Colorado River which snakes its way through the floor of the Canyon.
Here's a short video of some of the sights in the Grand Canyon, taken from the air around the Skywalk:
Las Vegas
The second time I visited the Grand Canyon I flew from Las Vegas, and that flight also took in the Hoover Dam. It's incredible how such a small wall can hold back so much water!
Here's a short video of some of the sites of Las Vegas:
Las Vegas itself fully lived up to expectations. In fact during the week I spent there my life pretty much reversed itself - awake all night, visiting the shows and looking around the casinos, and then sleeping during the day.
It was like having jet lag but without the actual travel, and I loved every minute of it.
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Then from Las Vegas my friend and I hired a car and drove to San Francisco. It's only when you drive across the US that you really get a sense of the vastness and variety of the country, and some of the views that we saw on that trip were just spectacular.
There are many places in the US I've not yet visited but the one I really want to see is Los Angeles. Not yet been there, but want to go!
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Enjoy your vacation!
Sincerely,
Martin Malden